What are the cheapest rotomolded coolers?
Table of Contents
There are a lot of different rotomolded brands and coolers on the market. This article is designed to help you understand what rotomolded construction means and what features will be typical on rotomolded coolers. I then outline which cooler brand I think you should go with based on the cheapest price.
What Does Rotomolded Mean?
Rotomolded is a term used to describe the process used to make a cooler. Rotomolded coolers have hard plastic shells that are made using pressure injected foam to create the shell of the cooler. This process creates a shell that is a single piece of plastic which helps the coolers ice retention capabilities as well as the durability of the cooler.
What Brands Make Rotomolded Coolers?
The most common brand that makes rotomolded coolers is Yeti. They have the most brand awareness and are the most popular cooler maker currently. Other popular brands are Pelican, Grizzly, and RTIC.
In terms of prices, Yeti is typically going to be the most expensive out of those options, because of their popularity they can afford to charge higher prices, this isn’t to say that they aren’t offering a better product. Pelican and Yeti are going to be comparable in prices for their models. Grizzly is going to be a bit cheaper than Yeti and Pelican coolers. RTIC is going to make the cheapest rotomolded coolers on this list.
Which Cheap Rotomolded Coolers Are Best?
I think that for the price RTIC makes the best rotomolded coolers on the market. They offer coolers that are comparable in size and features with Yeti coolers but are much more affordable. RTIC coolers are typically around $100 cheaper for a comparably sized cooler that will function pretty much the same.
RTIC coolers also look really similar to Yeti coolers, so similar in the fact that they were sued by Yeti and forced to make their coolers with a different design so that they no longer look like Yeti’s cooler models. With that said RTIC is still selling their coolers that look really similar to Yeti’s design. That may only last until they get rid of their inventory of existing coolers, I’m not sure. For right now though you can get a rotomolded cooler with comparable performance (and looks) to Yeti coolers at a much cheaper price.
You can read more about that lawsuit at the link below here – RTIC and Yeti Lawsuit
Which Rotomolded Coolers Are the Cheapest?
RTIC is going to be hands down the cheapest rotomolded cooler manufacturer. I am not paid to say this about RTIC this all comes from research that I have done in comparing different cooler brands. Some people have complained that the latches that come with RTIC hard shell coolers are not as nice as with Yeti hard shell coolers which may be a bit of an inconvenience but something I could put up with if I’m going to be saving money.
Another gripe that was mentioned about RTIC coolers vs Yeti coolers specifically was that Yeti has a better dealer network for warranty work compared with RTIC coolers. If you have a warranty issue with Yeti coolers you send your cooler off to a Yeti dealer and they send you a replacement cooler until they can confirm the warranty issue with the product.
With RTIC coolers they are direct to consumer seller so if you need to use your warranty for them you have to ship your cooler off, they will review if the issue with the product is valid and if so send you a new one. During that time though you would be without a cooler, not a deal breaker but something to keep in mind.
Ice Retention
Because the coolers in this list are made using rotomolded plastic they are going to have superior ice retention abilities over normal coolers made with non-rotomolded plastic or soft shell coolers. Rotomolded coolers usually have 2 to 3 inches of insulation to help retain ice as long as possible. Hardshell Yeti coolers are made of rotomolded plastic and are advertised as being able to retain ice for as long as 5 days.
RTIC also makes hard shell rotomolded coolers at a much cheaper price than Yeti and they advertise their coolers to hold ice for up to 10 days. Note that this would be in ideal conditions and not opening the lid of the cooler that often, the more you open up the cooler the quicker you can expect your ice to melt.
Comparison of Pelican, Yeti, and Grizzly coolers
Comparison of RTIC vs Yeti coolers
Capacity
One thing to note is that with Yeti coolers their model designation does not actually equal the amount of quarts that they can hold like with other cooler brands. A Yeti 45 cannot hold 45 quarts it can hold 37 quarts.
This is a little deceiving because with other cooler manufacturers the model number usually equals the amount of quarts that the cooler can hold. With an RTIC 45 it can hold 45 quarts of liquid so it’s going to be a physically larger cooler compared to the Yeti 45.
Construction
Rotomolded coolers are going to be stronger than normal coolers because of the process used to make them. Rotomolded plastic is going to be a stronger plastic than a normal plastic used on Coleman coolers.
This also makes them very durable so they should last a really long time. Yeti has had their coolers certified as bear-proof, which means that they have had a bear try to break into the cooler without success. They also show a video of a 500-pound man standing on their coolers and the cooler does not break or crack.
Bear trying to break into a Yeti cooler
500 pound guy standing on the Yeti
Security
All of the cooler brands listed in this article will offer security mechanisms to keep the cooler lid latched to the base of the cooler. This feature which would keep people from getting into your cooler or if you want to make sure it doesn’t open up if it accidentally tips over in transport.
Another nice feature of that is that you can lock your cooler to a nearby object so that someone walking by doesn’t steal your cooler at your campsite while you are not there. You would need an additional cable and padlock to do that but this would help to prevent people from trying to steal your expensive cooler.
Colors
With Yeti coolers they only have a few different cooler colors to choose from. If you want your cooler to have a more customized look you would want to look at getting a different brand. RTIC coolers also have a limited selection of colors like Yeti.
Pelican coolers have a lot of different colors and combinations to choose from I particularly like the camo version that Pelican has and the sandstone color on Grizzly coolers.
Pelican Coolers Im 50 Quart Elite Camo
In Conclusion
Depending on how cheap you want your rotomolded cooler to be there are quite a few brands to choose from. In looking at the comparison tests of the different coolers on youtube rotomolded coolers offer comparable performance across brands.
If you just want to get the cheapest rotomolded cooler then I would go with RTIC coolers. The next cheapest brand is going to be Grizzly coolers which are still quite a bit cheaper than Yeti coolers. One thing that I like about Grizzly coolers is that they have a lot of different colors to choose from.
If you are interested in reading more about why are Yeti coolers so expensive I’ve written an article about that subject as well.
One thing to note about RTIC coolers is that their prices are going to be cheaper if you buy the cooler from their website instead of on Amazon so keep that in mind.
RTIC Cooler, 65 qt (Tan)
Hopefully, this rotomolded cooler guide was able to give you more info to be able to make an informed buying decision on your next cooler.
